I have a fairly unique sister called Atina. She was born in an Asian-Latina family, and I was adopted into that family after my step mother had her second miscarriage. I was six years old when I first saw her face. And the first thing I thought of was the annoying beetle from the kindergarten I went to. She has the exact eye color as that beetle's. Not to mention that both have the audacity to steal food from time to time.

Of course, while Father would only laugh because his humour is great, Mother on the other hand, was always ready with her old, trusty sandals. I always thought my sister was a bit on the introverted side, but any other day, she'd bring home random bugs or cats, some animals or whatnot that will make mother's face turned blue from seeing her porch getting dirty. At times like that, I acknowledge my sister's perseverance is better than anyone in our neighborhood.

Today we're planning to go fishing at the lake. Atina convinced our parents that we'll be alright, hanging out together. Mother doesn't mind as long as Atina promised not to venture too far from the lake area. She asked me, the younger one, to take care of the older one. Usually this would make people angry, but in my case, this is normal.

"Listen, Haelyn, make sure that your sister doesn't drown. Drink water every thirty minutes. Don't forget to return the boat and say thank you to the owner. I'll give you enough money to buy food too, so buy something to eat for our dinner when you come home." Mother gave me $50 and two empty water bottles.

"Atina, listen to your sister, okay?" said Father. Atina nodded and laughed. She then proceeded to say, "Oh come on, Dad. Do you not believe me that much?"

"Yes, honey. To be frank, I think I'll have to call Haelyn every fifteen minutes, just to make sure that the both of you are okay."

"No, Dad! You're going to bother us!"

After the two bicker for another five minutes, while Mother and I are making sure that we have everything we need, we finally went to the bus stop. That day, the temperature went as high as 28 celcius, Atina started nagging me to put on some sunscreen. She cares a lot about it, since I had heat stroke when I was twelve. The weather in Malta is no joke, I'm telling you.

The bus we're waiting for is twenty minutes away. While we're waiting, we decided to play with the dandelions at the road side.

Atina showed me a big dandelion and asked, "Haelyn, do you know where this dandelion will grow?" Oh, she's being philosophical now.

"Hmmm, I don't know. On the road side?"

"No, it'll grow wherever the wind blows the seeds. Do you know what happens to the ones we've pulled out?"

"They die, Atina."

"You might not be able to see it, but some of the roots are still there, and as long as the taproot isn't completely removed, they'll regrow. That makes dandelions difficult to remove. This kind of reminds me of you."

"Are you sure you're not talking about yourself? The way you stay stubborn after hearing Mom nagging is plenty awesome."

"No, you'll know what I'm talking about when someone pointed that out. Don't worry, it's a good trait."

I nodded. Later on, we don't have much to talk about. But we're use to sitting in silent together. The bus came later than expected. We hopped on different seats. I sat next to a lady dressed in black, and Atina chose an empty seat near the window. She likes the warmth of the sun very much. Unlike me, who feels like I'm going to faint at any moment. The sun will definitely hit the left side, the one which she's sitting at. And I'm not sure if it's because her skin is heavily tanned, but she looks like a doll when the sun ray hit her face. The light reflected in her hazel eyes and created a honey-dew color. Soon her eyelids closed, so I walked over and took her stuffs to guard them.

The lady who's sitting beside me smiled when I came back. She gently queried, "Going fishing, young lady?"

"Yes, with our uncle."

"Well, I'm going to my brother's funeral. I miss going out with him, just like how you are with your friend."

I never invited her to further engage the conversation, did I?

"My condolences, Madam." Despite that, I decided that it's okay to be polite. I actually feel bad when she sobbed a bit, so I added, "May your brother rest in peace."

"Is she your friend from school?" she asked. Mother has warned me not to mention anything about our family. Simply because it's dangerous to do so when you're going out alone.

"Yes, we're pretty close." I didn't lie. Next year, I'm supposed to register to the same high school as Atina's. But I enrolled early because I got invited via scholarship.

"What's your name, young lady?"

"It's Harriet." That's my name when I was a kid of the orphanage. I decided to change it as a mean of having new life.

"Well, Harriet, do you have dreams and goals?"

"I do. Lots of them."

"That's great, I had few big ones too, but I regretted chasing after them."

I glanced at the brim of her wide hat, and was met with the most beautiful green eyes I've ever seen. They were filled with warmth, and her smile brought memories of the love that was given to me. 'Why would you regret them?' I want to ask her that, but I was afraid sounding rude.

"You might wonder why. Well, simply, because I didn't realize that my brother is suffering a lot from his lung cancer. We got separated for five years, and I rarely contacted him because I was busy with my jobs and family."

I wasn't sure what to say because she looks crestfallen. After thinking about it for a moment, I hesitantly responded, "It's... not your fault, Madam. You didn't know."

"Yes, I didn't know. But I'd like it if I can turn back time and be there with him for a moment. Ah, I'm sorry. I ended up bothering you."

"No, no. It's alright."

My heart warmed when I saw her smile for the second time. Our stop then mentioned by the intercom, and I pressed the stop button.

"Well, it's nice talking to you, Madam. Please be safe," I bode her farewell while nudging on my sister's shoulder. Atina woke up with a big yawn and immediately giggled.

"Be careful, girls," said the lady. Atina smiled towards my conversation partner, and I nodded without showing any expression.

Atina almost left her hat alone. If it wasn't for the lady from earlier, she might sulk later. The lady was nicer than I thought.

"So what's your new friend's name, Haelyn?" asked Atina.

"What new friend? We just talked because she has things to get off of her chest. That's all."

Atina booed me and proceeded to nag, saying I was too